Combination holder and vacuumtight seal for envelopes



NOV- 3, 1953 sc z 2,657,846

AND VACUUM- EN Filed March 9, 1948 INVENTOR. HENRY H. SCHMALZ FIG. I.

A T TOR/V5 X F'atented Nov. 3, 1953 COMBINATION HOLDER AND VACUUM- TIGHT SEAL FOR ENVELOPES Henry H. Schmalz, Des Plaines, 111., assignor to The Rauland Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application March 9, 1948, Serial No. 13,886

1 Claim.

at its open end or around its inside surfaces. Commonly a stopper or expansion rubber attachment was employed to make the seal.

Some of the obvious disadvantages of such a device was that to establish a vacuum tight seal a tight fit had to be made between the stopper, the side wall of the envelope and the evacuating system. In making such a fit often, in spite of all precautions, breakage at the neck portions 01 the envelope resulted. Since the seal contacted the envelope at its weakest end and over only relatively small surface portions, separate supporting means for the envelope also had to be provided.

These and other disadvantages are overcome by my envelope support which enables anyone. skilled or unskilled, simply by placing an en velope in my holder to establish a vacuum tight seal between the envelope and a vacuum system.

will permit. Heretofore, a small perforation was air from the tube any faster than it could be drawn through the small connecting hole.

I have found my holder to be particularly useful during an interim stage of manufacturing a cathode ray tube to produce a processing vacuum quickly and easily so that certain operations, such as aluminizing the interior of the tube, or checking the fluorescent screen by the gas ionization method, may be carried out.

My device is Of simple yet rugged construction and will accommodate envelopes of varying sizes and contours Without any adjustmentof the speed, and lends itself more readily to mass production techniques than any of those previously known.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to one embodiment thereof I is a cathode ray tube envelope or bottle standing on its long axis with face 2 of the bottle a vacuum tight seal between the washer and collar. Cylinder 4 is of suificient diameter and conical portion 8 should be engaged to provide a suitable support for the whole bottle. The glass wall of 8 rests directly against resilient washer 6.

The bottom end of cylinder 4 is provided with a suitable connection, such as flange 9, for attaching holder 3 to an evacuating system (not shown) which evacuates bottle I through open end Ill of neck 1.

proves as the evacuation continues. I

I have found that a more perfect seal between the holder and bottle may be obtained when the surface of washer 6 contacting portion 8 is a.

weight of the bottle at the point or initial contact so that at least a portion or the washer will be easily compressed and the self-sealing characteristics enhanced. The seal may be improved by applying vacuum grease, oil or the like to the portions of the washer contacting the bottle. Heretoiore, the use of such lubricants often resulted in contamination of the inside surfaces or the bottle because, the seal being close to the open end of the neck, the lubricants got inside the bottle, This cannot happen with my structure because the seal is at a point remote from the neck opening.

A plurality of holders 3 may be connected to a single vacuum system or to a continuous rotary or line type vacuum system and when it is desired to evacuate bottles, a vacuum tight seal between each bottle and the system is established simply by dropping a bottle into a holder.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the structure here disclosed without departing from the spirit and scope of my ins vention.

What is claimed is:

In a combination holder and vacuum tight diagonally opposite the bottom outer corner thereof for contacting said conically shaped side walls of said bottle to form a vacuum tight seal therewith, and means for fastening the bottom end of said cylinder to a vacuum system.

HENRY H. SCHMALZ.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

